my seed trays review

 multipack of four each of green base, black compartment and clear lid... £3.99 from Lidl, good value but rather annoyed to find the black seed tray does not have drainage holes so I have had to poke them through with a pair of scissors, I prefer to water into the base and have the seed tray draw it up.

 it all fits together quite nicely. cheapy type flimsy plastic though, it should do a couple of years but not too long lasting I imagine.

 the smaller trays are designed ( I think) to be used on a window sill, there is a long base, three little seed trays each with a lid with opening. It cost £4.99 from Home Bargains.

 good quality sturdy plastic, should have a good few years of use from them.

realised I had no plant labels so I cut up  a plastic container, think it had veg or something in it from the supermarket, is ok to write on with felt tip, not good with pen or pencil.

ON YOUR MARKS . . .

 GET SET . . .

 GROW !!

The bigger tray has Onions Walla Walla and Leeks Blue Solaise. Onions have 16 individual sections with two to three seeds each-to be thinned to one , the leeks have 8 individual sections with two seeds each-to be thinned to one, these are both for planting out . The smaller trays have salad mixes, one lettuce leaf mix, one spicy/ beet leaf and also scattered leek seed into a smaller tray to be used as salad, young leek looks like blades of  grass and is very yummy. 
All seeds only used part of the packets, so there can be a second planting later on or seeds saved for next year. 
That's a good start today anyway. There was a ray of sunshine when I started but just about sleet/rain by the time I was done, got a bit cold and wished I had put a jacket on. 

From the MetOffice;; This Evening and Tonight:Clear intervals and further showers this evening. The showers becoming more confined to Kintyre and Ayrshire tonight with many areas becoming dry with clear spells. Minimum temperature 2 °C..Monday:Sunshine and the odd shower in the morning then cloud thickening to bring rain in the afternoon, some becoming heavy later as southerly winds strengthen. Maximum temperature 9 °C.

little by little

 The twisted hazel is difficult to get under and into. One branch was really getting to the greenhouse so I've reluctantly taken it off... its a crazy thing to prune back so I just went as close to the base as I could, with a saw.

There is another branch reaching the same way, but I'll leave it for now. Also took height off the hedge from behind the greenhouse, little by little , and maybe in a year or so it will believe its a hedge again and not Trees.... eeeeek.

I've had a long weekend off work and intended to start some seed planting. Lost impetus..... mostly due to weather and temperature swings from 9c to -2c with a bitter wind.
here's the list of seeds, note some in here gifted from a friend some time ago. 

 Vegetables . 

·                     Aubergine, De Barbentane, Grow More Veg

·                     Beetroot, F1, Boldor, Suttons

·                     Broad Bean, Express Eleanora, Grow More Veg

·                     Broccoli, joint pack of Red Arrow and Rudolph, Suttons

·                     Cabbage, F1, Wintersweet, Suttons

·                     Carrot, baby type,  Ideal, Suttons

·                     Cauliflower, Romanesco Green and White, Suttons

·                     Celery, Giant Red, Suttons

·                     Chives,  Middleman, Lidl (Gartenland)

·                     Courgette, F1, Golden Griller, Suttons

·                     Cucumber ,Armenian, from Wildside home collected in 2015

·                     Greens, F1, Mustard Spinach,  Suttons

·                     Greens, Bright and Spicy Baby Leaf Mix, Grow More Veg

·                     Greens,  Lettuce Mix red/green salad bowl (looseleaf), Grow More Veg

·                     Greens, Leaf Beet, Perpetual Spinach, Grow More Veg

·                     Greens, Spinach Giant Winter, Grow More Veg

·                     Leek, Blue Solaise,

·                     Pea, Sugar Snap Deliket, Grow More Veg

·                     Pea, Kelvedon Wonder, Grow More Veg

·                     Pea, Aparagus (not actually a pea though, lol), Grow More Veg

·                     Pepper Mix Anaheim and Jalepeno, from Wildside... note these home collected in 2015

·                     Pepper, Chilli Zimbabwe Black, Suttons

·                     Pepper, Largo de Reus Pairal, Grow More Veg

·                     Pumpkin, F1, Hooligan, Grow More Veg

·                     Tomato, Constoluto Genovese, from Wildside home collected in 2015

·                     Turnip, Milan Purple Top, Just Seed

·                     Turnip, F1, Sweetbell, Suttons

Herb Seeds

·                     Coriander, Green Aroma , Grow More Veg

·             Mint, Pennyroyal, Grow More Veg

·                     Parsley, Bravour , Grow More Veg

·                     Rosemary, Grow More Veg

·                     Sage, naturally nurtured seed , Grow More Veg

·                     Thyme, Large, Grow More Veg

Flower Seeds

·                     Cosmos, Bipinnatus, Lidl (Gartenland)

·                     Poppy Seeds, Backrow Farm, collected 2019

Cowboy Dressage Finals Free Style, Jeff Sanders

sharing just because this is a beautiful example of practiced good horsemanship. and I love the song.

holiday booked !!

I'll be travelling down to deepest England to see this very talented horseman in July. Excited !!

hellebores

 hellebores. always hang their flowers down, and this is what they hide, just beautiful

 and the dark  purple one, still so pretty underneath

Casper looking out of the window, he does not enjoy going out into the wintery weather, so if he's out I need to keep an eye on whats happening outside so I can let him back in, he's never very far away when you call him in.

What To Sow In MARCH | Easy to grow outdoors (2020)

I like this lady, way down south in the Uk, her planting times are way ahead of here. lovely garden.

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oh i used to follow their blog.. but not had a look for that for a long time.

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greenhouse clean

Spent a couple of days this week moving stuff in the greenhouse to start sweeping and cleaning, lots of snails - pinged them out into the garden and hope the birds get them.

tipped out the shelves so I can wash them with soapy water... this large spider, at least one other a similar size.. and lots of little ones... eeeeeek, again off into the garden with them and hope they make a meal for a bird or two

Looking better, the back half of the green house swept and tidied. so I feel like I've done something useful this week (its only taken me since last April to get myself going ).  I also cut the grass today, a bit strange to be cutting grass in February, it didn't get an end of year cut due to the weather  being so bad, and the weather has been off and on mild so its kept growing !! Glad to have it looking a bit tidier after today.
I'm not sure when any seed planting will take place, I've yet to organise  seed trays and compost. I do have plenty of seeds now though, will make a list of those and make that another post.
I'm back to work on Monday though so , yet again, I'll have little time and be tired out. Hey ho, life.

flowers in the garden

 Cyclamen, looks a bit lonely, I think there is a bigger clump elsewhere in the garden, but I forgot to look for it.

Leucojum, they are usually quite tall. so I'm not sure why these are so little.

Hellebore, not opened

Hellebore, again not opened.
I tagged this with spring and winter flowers, as it seems like spring , but winter is surely not over yet. As I've had more time this week I've been collecting a bag of the well rotted manure from the farm every day and I tip it into my compost bins. One bin was mostly filled with weeds, the other mostly with grass clippings and then autumn leaves. I eat a lot of fruit and veg so any peelings, skins, cores etc... all go in as well. I have three bins and a fourth one is dismantled , in future I'm going to place the empty bin right on top of a veggy bed.. so once its 'cooked' I can just lift it and spread the compost.. currently when I have to empty the bins.. not likely till the end of this summer... I'll have to get them tipped over and mostly onto a tarpaulin and then move it to where its needed. More thought.. less lifting.

underneath views of todays snowdrops

Eating Seasonally | What Can Be Harvested In January (2020)

on the subject of forks.. with  my ''new garden'' I received and expensive spade and fork set from my employers, the fork broke very quickly, the shop replaced it.. it broke again.. the shop replaced it... it broke again.. at that point I told them not to replace it to refund the money.. which was quite a lot.. and I bought the shops own cheap brand for £5 (Homebase). 15years or so later I am still using the Homebase one, and thats a shop thats gone out of business now.

Snowdrops

I was patiently waiting for the snowdrops to come up, inspecting a clump near the front of the garden every day.. they still haven't come up... but elsewhere in the garden, behind shrubs and under leaves, these have come up , I will have to wait till the weekend to see them open, to see if they are singles or doubles. I can see from a quick look round this morning that more have come up and nearly at the opening stage.

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